Naughty Dog Teases The Last of Us 3 Will (Eventually) Happen

The Last of Us is one of PlayStation’s biggest properties, and its odds of continuing have grown with each remaster and its currently ongoing HBO adaptation. Unsurprisingly, a third game is planned to come out at some point—just don’t expect it within the next few years.

Developer Naughty Dog released its Grounded 2 documentary ahead of the weekend, which goes all into the development (and aftermath) of 2020’s The Last of Us Part II. Towards the end of it, co-director Neil Druckmann said he’s got a concept for a Part 3 in his head, and that there’s “probably one more chapteer to this story.” Simultaneously, he argued that Part II could serve as a a fitting endpoint of the series, as it wraps a bow on the overall look at the lengths of love as established in the original 2013 game.

“The great thing about working at Naughty Dog is that we don’t have to,” explained Druckmann, who added that something else may strike the studio’s fancy. He’s previously been evasive on the chances of a third game, but said it wasn’t until recently that he found an idea that’s “exciting as [Part I and II], is its own thing, and yet has this throughline for all three.”

Late last year, Naughty Dog canceled its long in-development multiplayer spinoff for The Last of Us so it could stick to being a single-player studio. According to Forbes, the developer is now working on an alleged sci-fi game first heard about in 2021. Naughty Dog already said it’s working on several projects (possibly including a fantasy title, so it may be some time before we get a full reveal of The Last of Us Part III. The wait between the first two games was seven years, and with triple-A games taking as long (and as much) as they do to make, it’s said project may not come until the next new PlayStation console. And that may not come until 2028, if not 2029 or 2030.

In the meantime, you can satiate your Last of Us needs by with the live-action series on Max (and its second season presumably airing next year), and the first two games on PlayStation 5.

[via IGN]

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.